Etymologically
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dentatus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [dɛnˈtaː.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [denˈtaː.tus][1]

Forms

dentātus (feminine dentāta, neuter dentātum); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dēns (“tooth”) + -ātus.[2][3][4] De Vaan traces the noun to Proto-Italic *dent- and Proto-Indo-European *h₃d-nt- (“tooth”).[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it from Plautus on, and notes that as a cognomen it is said to have been given as early as the 5th century BC to Siccius Dentatus.[3] In Plautus it describes a man well provided with teeth.[5][6]

Semantic evolution

It means having teeth, or prominent teeth: Ovid writes sī male dentāta est, of a girl whose teeth are bad.[2][7] It was applied to the larger carnivores,[2] and Ammianus calls the wild beasts of the arena dentātae bēstiae.[7] Pliny the Elder says that Manius Curius was surnamed Dentatus because he was born with teeth.[7][6]

It was also used of implements and devices fitted with teeth, spikes or cogs, as in Varro's threshing sledge,[2] and of paper polished with ivory, charta dentāta, in a letter of Cicero.[2][7] English took it in 1770 as dentate, “toothed”.[8]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of a man with good teeth.[5][6][9]
  • 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of a toothed threshing sledge.[2][9]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero speaks of paper polished with ivory.[2][9]
  • 43 BC–18 AD – Ovid uses it of a girl with bad teeth.[2][9]
  • 23/24–79 AD – Pliny the Elder explains the cognomen of Manius Curius.[7][9]
  • c. 390 AD – Ammianus uses it of the wild beasts of the arena.[7][9]
  • 1770 – English borrows it as dentate.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Having teeth, or prominent teeth; of the larger carnivores, fanged.[2][7]
  2. Of implements and devices: Toothed, spiked, fitted with cogs.[2]
  3. Of paper: polished with ivory.[2][7]
  • ēdentulus
  • English dentate

Usage notes

As a cognomen, Dentātus was borne by Manius Curius, whom Pliny the Elder says was born with teeth.[7][6]

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  4. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  5. ^ a b Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
  6. ^ a b c d Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ a b c d e f Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de